Buckley Gets Wish In Burns' Rise To Captaincy

The Age

Friday March 7, 2008

Michael Gleeson

NATHAN Buckley kept dutifully silent on his preference for the best person to replace him as captain of Collingwood when he retired last year.

Yesterday, on the appointment of Scott Burns, Buckley was happy to declare the club had appointed the man he hoped would succeed him.

"I have tried to be impartial but if I had to say who I would be most happy with, who I thought should get it, it would be Scott Burns. I think Scott Burns is the most appropriate person, the best leader to take over the club," said the man who retired last year as the longest-serving captain in black and white.

"That is not meant as a slight on the other guys, I just think they have made the right choice. He has the utmost respect from everybody in the group and in football. I am closest to him of anyone at the club, so I am rapt for him - firstly, that he was given the opportunity and secondly, that he took it.

"So many things come down to timing. Burnsy could have taken over from Gavin Brown instead of me and been the captain until now. It's not a matter of whether the bloke has the ability to do it. He and I have been just as involved in leading the footy club over the last decade as much as each other.

"Every decision he makes is for the betterment of the footy club. Early on, I discounted him as captain because I thought he would not accept it at his age, but I am glad he has agreed and taken the job. He is the right choice."

In any event, Burns, who had privately mused over whether the club was best served by a younger leader, did not require persuading. He would not have taken the job if it had been presented as a sentimental reward for services rendered.

"I would always do what I thought was best for the club. I was not going to shy away from the role," Burns said.

Burns is close to Buckley and takes a similar approach, but will lead differently.

"Bucks and I are pretty similar in a lot of ways. We have come through together but I think, Bucks, when he was captain (in the) early days, we had to have hierarchy in leadership then. We didn't have the depth underneath, we didn't have the leadership underneath. I see my role as empowerment now, not so much standing up in front of them telling them how it should be done," Burns said.

"The change in the players over the summer by not having a captain, I think, proved the value of deferring the decision on the captaincy. Players took a lot more on themselves. I want to encourage that."

He will have a further point of difference to Buckley. "I will have the socks down and I won't have my shorts up around my ribcage. That would be the major one."

They share a dry wit, for Buckley feared that with Burns's appointment, Collingwood had moved to a whiter shade of pale.

"Browny was off-white, I was whiter than him and Burnsy is pinky white - whiter than me. The next captain will have to be an albino . . . Licca (Paul Licuria) was never going to make it," Buckley laughed.

The appointment of the 33-year-old is undoubtedly a short-term move but coach Mick Malthouse said the length of tenure and the age of the player were secondary to appointing the best person.

"We could have gone a number of ways, we could have given it to someone out of the blue - a Scott Pendlebury at 20, Dale Thomas at 21 or a Travis Cloke or Harry O'Brien. I will add onto that Heath Shaw, and the next category up from that in age, Dane Swan or Alan Didak - that would have turned a few heads - but we are not dictated by outside forces," Malthouse said.

"If there is someone there, you don't ignore it because the person may be in the twilight of his career. He will be a good captain, set us up and give other players a chance to learn from him."

Burns said his appointment at 33 also said to players such as Tarkyn Lockyer that, at 29 this year, he still could captain the club.

Burns will not play in the practice match against Hawthorn tonight. He has a calf injury but expects to be fit for round one after playing his first practice match next week. And although Burns began many games on the bench last year, Malthouse said he was untroubled about that continuing but suspects Burns will begin most games on the ground.

Club president Eddie McGuire was equally succinct: "Scott is the captain of our club, not just our team."

© 2008 The Age

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